1 Rotating
Tower Board
9 Hero
Battlemats
12 Foe
Cards
52
Loot
Cards
221
Encounter
Cards
1 Six-Sided
Die
1 Three-Part
Encounter Ring
1 Foe
Battlemat
9 Hero
Cards
101
Starter
Cards
1 Madness 6 Sanity 9 Hero
Token
Tokens Tokens
1 Expansion
Battlemat
5
Sealed Spire
Cards
9
Tower
Cards
3 Foe
Tokens
6
Turn Order
Explore
Cards
5 Key
Tokens
Assault on the Tower of Madness
Contents
The Lost Souls of Ravingspire...............2
Foes Haunt the Halls..............................11
The Hero’s Attributes.............................3
Chaos Cards.........................................12
Sanity and Madness..............................3
Showdown............................................13
Deck Building in Ravingspire.................4
Using Special Card Actions....................14
The Hero’s Battlemat.............................5
Tower Key and Spire Card.....................15
The Starter Deck...................................6
Choose Your Hero..................................16
Battle Matrix........................................7
Ravingspire Setup................................17
Well of Souls........................................7
Full Turn.............................................18
Building Your Battle Deck......................8
Starting the Game.................................19
Exploring the Tower..............................9
Anatomy of Cards................................20
Rotating Tower Levels...........................9
Card Types..........................................24
Adversaries and Loot............................10
Glossary..............................................26
Rest and Recovery................................11
Card Set Expansions............................28
the lost souls of ravingspire
Your Hero has become trapped within the haunted Tower of Ravingspire. Did they seek out the
Tower in the hopes of uncovering the vast riches rumored to lie within? Maybe they entered on
their own volition out of curiosity, once the Tower suddenly appeared on the horizon near their
village. Or perhaps were they taken from their beds in the night and simply awoke within the
ancient keep, as Old Nan’s bedtime stories warn?
All of that is less important now than how they will escape, for the Tower hungers for the souls of
Heroes. Only by making their way up through the maze-like passageways and facing the Dark
Lord of the Tower will your Hero have a chance of escaping!
To conquer the Tower of Ravingspire, the Hero you choose must defeat the Final Challenge
contained within one of the sealed Spire Cards. To do this, you must acquire and banish cards
from the Encounter Ring to sculpt your Hero’s Battle Deck. Use this Battle Deck to defeat
sanity-blasting adversaries, align the stairwells and passageways, overcome Chaotic dangers, and
battle the wandering and deadly Foes to obtain a Tower Key. Only with a Foe’s key may the door
to Spire Keep be unlocked and the Final Challenge revealed!
2
the hero’s attributes
The Hero’s Battle Deck consists of cards that utilize
three primary attributes: Fight, Skill, and Charm.
When a card is played for its Power Value, the
specific attribute requirement it fulfills is
represented by a symbol in the upper right corner
of the card.
fight
skill
charm
The Hero also has a fourth attribute, Sanity. This is designated by a scale from 0 to 10 on
the left side of the Hero’s Battlemat. All Heroes start at full Sanity (10), but various effects
and events may lower their Sanity throughout the game.
The Power Values on these cards
show that both Rogue’s Strike and
Battered Buckler cards are worth
two Skill when utilized by the Hero.
The Sanity track on the Hero’s
Battlemat represents their
capacity to withstand the terrors
they encounter within the halls of
Ravingspire.
sanity and madness
If a Hero’s Sanity ever reaches the Skull icon (zero Sanity), they are driven temporarily Mad, and
worse yet, the Tower claims a small portion of their soul. The Player then discards all cards from
their Hand and Battlemat, and places their Hero Token on the Dungeon Portal (Start) space. They
may then return return their Sanity track to 10 on their Battlemat, draw a new Hand of cards, and
end their turn.
The red Madness Track on the Foe Mat starts at a value of 2 + the number of Heroes.
When a Hero goes Mad, lower the red Madness Track on the Foe Mat by 1. If the
red Madness Track ever reaches the Skull icon (zero), then the Tower has collected
enough soul energy to trap the Heroes for all time, and all Players lose the game!
The primary ways a Hero may lose Sanity are:
Adversaries left on the level at the Recovery stage (1 Sanity per Adversary)
Overwhelmed in the Encounter phase (1D6 Sanity if you can’t collect a card)
Losing a Battle to a Foe (2D6 Sanity)
Special Card Effects
3
deck-building in ravingspire
Ravingspire is at its heart a deck-building game. On each Hero’s Battlemat lies their Battle Deck
and discard pile. The Player must use this Battle Deck to interact with and obtain cards from the
Encounter Ring.
Each turn, Players draw a full Hand of cards (6) from their own Battle Deck and use those cards
against the requirements on the Battle Matrix of cards in the Encounter Ring. In this way, Players
may collect new cards to use in their Battle Deck.
Each time a Player draws the last card from their Battle Deck, the Player will reshuffle their
discard pile and restore their Battle Decks anew to continue drawing cards as needed. The Player’s
Hand will become more powerful as newly-collected cards cycle through from the discard pile.
Eventually, their Battle Decks will be strong enough to take on the deadly Foes that stalk the halls
of the Tower.
Example: Cycling the Battle Deck
During the Recover phase of his turn, Steve has discarded his remaining Hand and now needs to draw a
new Hand of six cards from his Battle Deck in preparation for next turn. Steve has only four cards left in
his Battle Deck. He draws those four cards and then reshuffles his discard pile, placing the deck back on
his Battlemat in the Battle Deck slot. He now draws an additional two cards from his renewed Battle Deck
to complete his Hand of six cards.
4
the hero’s battlemat
If a Player’s hand contains cards with highlighted equipment symbols on the bottom edge that
match a symbol of one of the card spaces on their Battlemat, the Player may Slot that card into the
appropriate equipment space on their Battlemat.
When slotted in this way, these unspent cards do not have to be discarded during the Recover
phase and may be spent on subsequent turns as if played from the Player’s Hand. Cards may be
swapped between the Player’s Hand and Battlemat at any time during a turn, so long as no Chaos
Card event is directly impacting the Player’s Hand or Battlemat.
Each Hero has certain types of equipment cards they may slot and save for later turns. These are
delineated by the equipment symbols on their Hero card and Battlemat.
You may slot up to five unspent equipment cards on your Battlemat to save them for later turns.
Once used, they are placed into your discard pile just as if they had been played from your hand.
5
the starter deck
Each Hero starts their adventure in Ravingspire with a shuffled deck of 12 cards. These represent
their starting capabilities, and are listed at the top of the Hero card. The Player utilizes these
Starter cards to collect stronger cards from the Encounter Ring during their adventure, representing the Hero’s growing experience and increasing their effectiveness as they cycle through the
Battle Deck.
The Battle Matrix on the Hero
card denotes the total value
of the Hero’s Starting deck,
giving you an easy way to
compare starting powers
during Character selection.
The Blade, Tool, and Trinket Starter cards are
worth only one fight, skill, and charm,
respectively. However, they are all equipment
cards and as such, may be slotted into the
appropriate equipment slot on a Hero’s
Battlemat for use in later turns.
The Starter cards with a value of two fight, two skill, or two charm are all
Attack cards which may NOT be slotted into the Player’s Battlemat and so
must always be discarded during the Recover phase.
Adventure Tip:
As you expand your Battle Deck with Encounter cards representing better equipment and abilities during
the game, you’ll likely want to rid yourself of the weaker cards. Do this by banishing your weaker Starting
cards into the Well of Souls during the Encounter or Explore phases. In this way, as you cycle through your
Battle Deck, you won’t be saddled with re-drawing weak Starter cards which dilute the effectiveness of
your hand!
6
battle matrix
The Battle Matrix outlines the total Fight, Skill, and Charm a Hero must utilize from
their hand to acquire a card from the Encounter Ring.
In this example, a Hero could spend 3 Fight, 3 Skill,
and 3 Charm worth of cards - or a total value of 18
of any combination of Fight, Skill, and Charm - to
acquire this card from the Encounter Ring.
The Brute Force value in the center of the Battle Matrix provides an alternate means to
acquire the card. Instead of a certain number of each specific type (Fight, Skill, Charm),
the Hero may spend any combination of cards as long as the total of the Fight, Skill, and
Charm is at least that of the Brute Force value. Whichever means is used to acquire a card,
it will always be placed into the player’s discard pile (along with the cards spent to acquire
it during the Recover phase) unless otherwise instructed by the card (such as with
Adversary cards).
well of souls
The Well of Souls is on the Foe mat and may be used during the Explore phase of a
player’s turn.
A player may spend the power cost listed on the
Well of Souls (1 Fight, 1 Skill, 1 Charm), or its
Brute Force value (5), to activate the Well of Souls.
When activated, the player may take one card from
their hand or discard pile (including the cards just
used to activate the Well) and banish it from the
game. They may do this multiple times during their
turn as long as they can pay the cost each time a
card is banished in this way.
7
building your battle deck
During the Encounter phase, the Player may spend cards from their Hand to obtain new cards
from their level’s Encounter Ring. This is done by spending cards from the Player’s Hand (and/or
Battlemat slots) whose combined Power Value equals or exceeds the values on the Battle Matrix of
a card they would like to collect. The newly-collected card, along with the cards that were spent to
obtain the new card, are set aside until the Recover phase of the Player’s turn (they are not yet
placed into the discard pile). Any over-spent Power to obtain the new card is lost. A Player may
collect as many cards as they desire from the Encounter Ring in this way during the Encounter
Phase. Once the Recover phase begins, any cards spent or collected will then all be placed into the
Player’s discard pile, along with any unspent cards from their Hand.
Example: Collecting a Card from the Encounter Ring
Steve is on the Outer Dungeon level during his Encounter phase. He decides to collect the Expert Feint card
from the Dungeon. He can see that the cost listed on the Battle Matrix is 4 Charm or 7 Brute Force. He
spends two Runelord’s Blast cards from his Battle Deck to pay the cost of 4 Charm and collects the Expert
Feint card from the Encounter Ring. He places the three cards aside until the beginning of his Recover
phase, at which point all three cards will be placed into his discard pile.
8
exploring the tower
In order to reach new levels of the Tower the Hero must
align secret passageways and try to decipher cryptic maps
scrawled into the walls of the dungeon. During the
Explore phase, the Hero may spend 2 Skill or 2 Charm
from their Hand to roll a die and rotate their current level
that many spaces (clockwise or counter-clockwise).
During the Explore phase cards are spent for their standard Power Value only, and any Special Actions or abilities
on the cards are ignored. The Player’s goal is to align the
Stairway with the open Portal space on the level above.
Once the Stairway and open Portal are aligned, the Heroes
may move up or down between the levels as they wish.
The player may also choose to Brute Force the rotation of the level, by spending a combination of
10 of any power suits (Fight, Skill, or Charm) to roll the die and rotate the level UP TO that many
spaces. Therefore when using Brute Force to rotate the level, they do not need to rotate the level
the full amount shown on the die.
rotating tower levels
During her Explore phase, Aurora spends Charm
to rotate the Dungeon level (outer ring). Rolling
the die, she aligns the Staircase to the Portal
entrance to the Temple level (middle ring).
On her next turn, Aurora rolls the die and moves
up the Staircase into the now-open Temple level.
Aurora will now draw and encounter cards for the Temple
level during the Encounter phase instead of the Dungeon level.
A Hero may also spend 2 Fight from their hand to Exert and move 1 extra space during the
Explore phase. This movement may even be up or down a Stairwell, though if they Exert up the
stairs into an unrevealed level they will not fill the Encounter Ring of that level until the beginning
of their next Encounter phase.
9
adversaries and loot
Some cards the Heroes encounter will have a Skull instead of a Power Value. These cards are
labeled Adversary. If any Adversaries remain on the Encounter ring at the beginning of a Player’s
Recover Phase, then their Hero will lose 1 Sanity from their Battlemat for each Adversary card
present.
Adversary cards when defeated are not collected into the Player’s discard pile as equipment and
other Encounter cards would be. Instead, upon defeating the Adversary card’s Battle Matrix cost,
the Special Action text on the Adversary card is immediately resolved by the Player before they
continue their turn. This will often require a die roll to determine what happens, and in the best
cases will result in the Player drawing one or more Loot cards from the Foe Mat, and placing those
Loot Cards into their discard pile during their Recover phase. It will also determine whether the
Adversary card is Banished (removed from the game), or reshuffled into the the Encounter deck.
When reshuffled, Adversary cards are always reshuffled into the top third of the Encounter Deck
(they will soon return and haunt the Heroes again) during the Recover phase, before any new
Encounter cards are drawn.
Example: Resolving an Adversary Card
Steve decides to spend a Rogue’s Strike (2 Skill) and two Tool cards (1 Skill each) to disarm the Trapped
Chest in the Dungeon. He collects the card from the Encounter Ring and immediately resolves the effect on
the card. In this case he rolls the die and gets a 6, which according to the Trapped Chest card means he
gains 1 Loot card! Steve draws a card from the Loot deck on the Foe Mat and gets a Runic Axe. He places
the Runic Axe aside with his spent Rogue’s Strike and Tool cards to be placed into his discard pile during
his Recover phase. He will then place the Trapped Chest card next to the Encounter Deck, to be reshuffled
back into the top third of the Encounter Deck before any new cards are drawn from it.
Adversary
Loot
Loot cards represent the mystic treasures hidden within the Tower of Ravingspire that are
guarded by the denizens that stalk the halls. They are designated by a Treasure Chest image
in place of a Battle Matrix, and are kept in their own deck on the Foe Mat. Their Power
Value is in bright yellow and has no Fight, Skill, or Charm designation. This is because they
are considered Vorpal Power, or Wild, and may be used as either Fight, Skill, or Charm as
the Player chooses when they are played.
10
rest and recovery
At the end of each Hero’s turn they must try to recover their strength and regroup from their
encounters in the Tower. However, if any Adversaries remain wandering the halls of the level the
Heroes occupy when the Recover phase comes, then they cannot truly rest, and the Hero loses 1
point of Sanity for each Adversary still standing!
The Hero must then discard any remaining cards in their hand that cannot be slotted into their
Battlemat. Only equipment or Dungeon cards may be saved between turns, representing the
particular proficiencies the Hero has mastered to keep certain items at hand.
If the Hero had a very successful turn collecting cards, and open spaces are present in the Hero’s
level Encounter Ring, then the Player must draw cards from the Encounter Deck to refill those
open spaces. Any Chaos Cards drawn are immediately resolved and replaced. Note that this can
lead to some Adversaries crawling out of the shadows (though any new Adversaries on the
Encounter Ring won’t drain Sanity this turn), or even a deadly Foe sneaking up on the Hero.
Beware clearing too much of a level in a single turn if you are standing near the stairwell where
Foes may appear!
Once all the Encounter spaces on the level are filled with Encounter cards, the Player then draws
back up to a full hand of six cards from their Battle Deck. These are the cards they will use in their
following turn.
foes haunt the halls
Finally, if any Foes still stalk the Hero’s level, that Foe token will be moved toward the current
Hero. The Foe token moves 1 space if there are 4 or more players, or 1d3 spaces if there are 3 or
fewer players.
To determine 1d3, roll the trusty d6 and consult the following:
Roll
1-2
3-4
5-6
Foe Moves
1 space
2 spaces
3 spaces
After the Foe moves then the Player’s turn is over, and play proceeds clockwise to the next Player.
11
chaos cards
If a Chaos Card is ever drawn from the Encounter deck, designated by a large Pentagram in place
of a Battle Matrix, then they are immediately resolved and banished before play continues.
The Foe Advances!
The first effect of Chaos cards will always be to Summon or Move a Foe on
the level. If no Foe token is present on a level when the Chaos Card is
drawn, then a Foe token immediately is Summoned to the Staircase space
(or Tower door space) of that level. That Foe token will move at the end of
each Player’s turn during the Foe phase (including the turn in which it
appeared) until it is removed from the board after a Showdown with a Hero.
If a Foe token is already present on the level when a Chaos Card appears,
then the existing Foe token is moved 1 space toward the current Player.
The Chaos Card’s Special Action text is then read aloud by the current Player and any effects
applied. Most Chaos cards are detrimental and affect only the current Player. However Chaos is by
its very nature mutable and occasionally it will impact all Players, or in the rarest cases even
something helpful may occur.
Example: Resolving a Chaos Card
Chris is playing Darius the Blade and has made it to the Temple level of the Tower. Chris draws the Chaos
Card Mind Warp from the Encounter Deck during the Draw phase of his turn. As there are no Foe Tokens
currently on his level, he places a Foe Token onto the Stairway space of the Temple Level. He and all other
players must then lose 1 Sanity due to the Special Effect text on the Mind Warp card. Chris then Banishes
the Chaos Card and continues with his Encounter Phase. Had his Darius Hero token been on the Stairway
space when the Foe token appeared in the same space, then Chris would have to immediately face the Foe
in a Showdown instead of encountering the level.
12
showdown
If you start your turn with a Foe on your space, or you move into a Foe on your turn, you
must engage in a Showdown in lieu of Encountering the tower level.
1. Draw a Foe card from the Foe deck (instead of
the Encounter deck).
2. Resolve any special Foe effects.
3. Battle the Foe with cards in hand and/or
from your Battlemat.
4. If you win, collect a Tower Key token
and two loot cards.
5. If you cannot defeat the Foe,
you must immediately lose 2d6
Sanity.
Tip:
The Tower Key is the only way to
open the Tower Door and face the
final challenge at the top of the
Spire!
6. Whether you won or lost, remove the
Foe token from the board, and place the
Foe card on the bottom of the Foe deck.
7. After the Showdown, you may take a
bonus move (as long as you did not go
Mad), and then continue with your
Explore phase.
Tip: The Hero cannot collect cards from the Encounter Ring on the turn they have a Showdown
with the Foe. However any Adversaries on their level will still damage their Sanity during the
Recover phase that turn. Be careful not to face a Foe on a level before clearing out its minions!
13
using special card actions
As Players collect cards from the Encounter ring, many of these cards will have Special Actions in
addition to providing a Power Value that may be spent to acquire new cards. Special actions will
usually take effect along with the Power Value when the card is spent, unless otherwise stated (e.g.
“discard” or “banish”). If a Player plays a card for its special effect, it is considered spent that turn,
and must go into their discard pile during the Recover phase (even if the Power Value wasn’t used
to acquire any new Encounter cards).
Example 1: Using a Standard Special Action
Steve has drawn the Expert Feint card from his Battle Deck that he had acquired from the Encounter Ring
in an earlier turn. During the Encounter phase he decides to activate its “draw a card” power before he
announces which card he wishes to acquire from the Encounter Ring. He plays Expert Feint and immediately draws a new card from his own Battle Deck and places it into his Hand. He draws a Blade Starter card
with a Power Value of 1 Fight. He decides to spend the 2 Skill from the Expert Feint and the 1 Fight from
the Blade card to acquire the Acolyte’s Circlet (Cost 1 Fight and 1 Skill) from the Encounter Ring. The extra
1 Skill left over from the Expert Feint card is lost.
Example 2: Using a Discard Special Action
Mary decides to discard the Armory card from her Hand to double the value of her Leather Boots card this
turn. Because the Special Action text of the Armory card required her to discard the card for the action to
take effect, she does NOT benefit from the Power Value (2 Fight) of the Armory card. However she does
gain an additional 2 Skill for her Leather Boots card (making it worth 4 Skill total) to use during her turn.
14
obtaining a tower key and
facing the spire card
The only way for a Hero to escape from the Tower of Ravingspire is to enter the Spire Keep and
face one of the Lords of the Tower in a final challenge. To reach the Keep, the Hero must obtain a
Tower Key in order to access the locked tower door that stands in their way. Only the deadly Foes
carry Tower Keys within Ravingspire, so the Hero must face and defeat one of the wandering Foes
before they may face the Final Challenge. Once a Hero defeats a Foe, the Player may take a Key
token and place it on their Hero card to show that they are ready to enter the Keep. A Hero may
only ever take one Tower Key regardless of the number of Foes they face, and the Key may never
be taken from them.
Upon entering the Keep the Player will draw and open one of the Sealed Spire Cards and read it
aloud. This will reveal to all Players what lies in wait for them at the top of the Tower. The current
Player must then defeat the challenge of the Spire Card or be lost to the Madness of the Tower
forever. If they fail, the Madness track drops by 1 and that Hero is removed from the game. If the
Madness track has not yet reached zero (i.e. ending the game) then the remaining Heroes may
attempt to enter the Keep and face the Spire Card.
A solo player is not removed from the game, but instead immediately suffers the effects of madness.
15
choose your hero
In Ravingspire, there are nine starting Heroes, three different Heroes for each Character Type.
These nine Heroes are not created equal. They are all individuals, and each has a different set of
powers and equipment options they can utilize within the Tower of Ravingspire. Some of their
play styles are more straightforward and easier to grasp than others, while others require more
subtlety to achieve success.
normal
These heroes have easy-to-utilize powers.
They allow the player to draw extra cards
or swap card power types during play.
Playing with these straightforward
Heroes may be roughly categorized as
"Normal" or Dungeon mode, and are
recommended for starting or solo players.
The Crimson Reaver (Reaver)
Quinn ApBlanc (Rogue)
Aurora the All-Knowing (Runelord)
hard
The second set of three Heroes are a bit
more difficult to get a grasp on, but their
abilities introduce some more flexibility
and fun to the game. Escaping the Tower
with one of these Heroes is generally more
difficult, and may be considered "Hard"
or Temple mode.
Florence Haymaker (Reaver)
Darius the Blade (Rogue)
Marcus the Runelord (Runelord)
expert
With these Heroes, the player must focus
their play style on these Heroes'
particular strengths if they hope to
escape. These Heroes may start the game
without any slottable item cards, or their
powers may be difficult to use against
most adversaries without finesse. These
are the "Expert" or Spire level Heroes.
Escaping the Tower with them awards the
greatest bragging rights!
Garsome Cinderheart (Reaver)
Shayla Nimblenook (Rogue)
Dawn the Righteous (Runelord)
16
ravingspire setup
Spire
Encounter Ring
Dungeon
Encounter Ring
Dungeon Level
Temple Level
Spire Level
Start Space
Hero Token
Portal to
Spire Keep
Portal
Tower Card
Temple
Encounter Ring
Staircase
Discard
Pile
Battle
Dungeon
Deck
Slot
Foe Deck
Encounter
Well
Deck
of
Banish
Hero Card
Explore
Souls
Sanity
Pile
Card
Loot
Track
Equipment Slots
Deck Tower
Madness
Deck Turn Track
Order
Foe Battlemat
Hero Battlemat
Set up decks, board and battlemats as shown.*
Rotate levels so all staircases are at least 4 spaces away from the next level’s open portal.
Place your hero token on the outer ring open portal start space.
Draw and place a tower card on the dungeon ring.
Place a Sanity token (white skull) on the 10 of each Hero’s Battlemat Sanity Track,
and place a Madness token (red skull) on the Madness Track of the Foe Mat (on 2+number of Players).
Shuffle together each Hero’s Battle Deck from their Starter Cards listed on their Character Card.
Each Hero then draws a full hand of cards from their Battle Deck (normally 6).
You are now ready to start the game.
*Single player setup shown
17
anatomy of a turn
1. move
Roll the die and move your Hero token that many spaces.
If you move onto a new level of the tower that does not yet
have a revealed Encounter Ring, draw 1 card from the
Tower Deck and 5 cards from the Encounter Deck and
place them on that level’s Encounter Ring. Resolve
and replace any Chaos events drawn.
2. draw
Draw a card from the Encounter Deck and place it
on the tower board next to the Encounter Ring.
3. encounter
Collect cards from the Encounter Ring by paying the
cost listed on the card’s Battle Matrix.
If at least 1 card is acquired from the Encounter Ring,
place the newly drawn card into the vacated space.
Overwhelmed: If the player cannot acquire a card from
the Encounter Ring, replace the card with the highest
Brute Force value with the newly drawn card. The player
then loses 1d6 Sanity.
If this brings the player’s Sanity to 0, they suffer the
effects of Madness.
4. explore
Player may now use 2
Player may use 2
or 2
to rotate the level they occupy.
to exert and move an additional 1 space in any direction.
5. recover
Place all collected cards into your discard pile.
If there are any remaining Adversaries on your Encounter level, lose 1 Sanity for each
Adversary card present.
Slot any unused Equipment cards from your hand onto your Battlemat. Then discard
your remaining hand.
If any open spaces remain on the Encounter Ring, fill those spaces with new cards from
the Encounter Deck, bringing the Encounter Ring total back to 5 (resolve and replace
any Chaos events drawn).
6. foe
Move each Foe Game Piece 1d3 spaces toward you (for 1-3 players) or 1 space toward you
(for 4-6 players).
18
starting the game (the tower awakens)
For the first 5 turns of the game all Chaos and Adversary cards drawn are set aside and ignored
until the beginning of Turn 6. Furthermore, the Heroes cannot be Overwhelmed until Turn 6.
The Dungeon ring populates
with cards one at a time for
the first five turns, until full
at the beginning of Turn 6.
Upon Turn 6 the Tower
awakens. Thereafter, players
must encounter any Chaos and
Adversary cards drawn and
make room in the ring for any
newly drawn Encounter
cards or lose 1d6 Sanity, as
normal.
turn 1
For the first five turns, Foes and Adversaries do
not appear, and a drawn card may be placed in
the Encounter Ring without needing to
make room for it, if the
player chooses.
Any Chaos or
Adversary cards
drawn are set aside
until turn 6.
The first player (determined however the players wish) draws a card from the Encounter Deck (set
aside any Chaos cards or Adversary cards until turn 6) and places it in position 1. If they can
collect this card, they add it to their discard pile. If the first player can’t acquire this card, they
move on to EXPLORE & RECOVER. During the Recover phase, they only replace the card in the
first space with a new Encounter card if they collected it. Spaces 2-5 remain unfilled on the Dungeon level.
turns 2-5
The next player draws a card from the Encounter Deck and places it in position 2 - Turn 2 (3 -Turn
3, 4 -Turn 4, or 5-Turn 5) on the Encounter Ring. If they acquire any of these cards, they add them
to their discard pile, and in the Recover phase will draw cards from the Encounter Deck to replace
them in positions 1-2 (3, 4, or 5). If the player can’t or decides not to acquire these cards, they
move on to EXPLORE & RECOVER phases, finishing their turn.
turn 6 and beyond
At the beginning of Turn 6, the next player takes all of the Chaos or Adversary cards that were set
aside in Turns 1-5 and shuffles them into the top third of the Encounter Deck. From now on any
Chaos or Adversary cards drawn will be in play, and if a player cannot collect a card from the
Encounter Ring each turn then the Overwhelmed rule takes effect! Furthermore, from now on after
a player’s Recover phase no Encounter Ring space will be left empty on the player’s occupied level.
19
anatomy of cards
Blade
Reaver’s Slash
Tool
Rogue’s Strike
Trinket
Runelord’s Blast
A Hero’s beginning Battle deck consists solely of the Starter Cards that are listed on their Hero card.
Once each Player’s Hero deck has been built, the remaining Starter Cards are set aside and will not be
used during the game.
You will choose one of nine
Heroes to help escape the
dreaded Tower of Ravingspire.
Starter Deck Cards
The Hero card outlines the
Hero’s starting Battle Deck, the
Starter Deck Total Value Hero’s special abilities, and the
Equipment Slots that are
present on the Hero’s Battlemat.
Heroic Abilities
Note that each Hero has specific
strengths and weaknesses that
Hero’s Equipment Slots
can impact their difficulty and
gameplay style.
Foe Class
Card Type
Foe Ability
Battle Matrix
Loot Value
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Foes are ex-Heros who have gone Mad
within the Tower and now hunt any who
dare enter! The Foe Card outlines the
Foe’s Class (Reaver, Rogue, or Runelord),
the special ability of the Foe, the Foe’s
Battle Matrix, and the Loot reward for
defeating a Foe (always consisting of a
Tower key and at least two Loot cards).
Note that most Foes cannot be defeated
by Brute Force, so equip your Battlemat
wisely, as you won’t know what Foe you’ll
face until the Showdown occurs!
anatomy of cards
Equipment Cards
Weapons Objects Armor Relics
Power Value
Card Title
Card Type
Card Action
Battle Matrix
Story
Equip Slots
Equipment cards are the most common cards on the
Encounter Ring, and can consist of Weapons, Armor,
Relics, or Objects. They are collected by playing cards
rom your Battle Deck equal to their Battle Matrix Value.
Once the card is collected into a Player’s Battle Deck the
card’s Battle Matrix value is ignored, and instead the
Power Value and Card Action are utilized when the card
is played from the Player’s hand.
The highlighted Equipment icon on the bottom of an
Equipment card shows where the Item may be equipped
in the Hero’s Battlemat.
Chaos Cards
Chaos Cards lurk within the Encounter Deck and have an
instant effect, and always will summon a Foe token to the
player’s level, or move an existing Foe token one space
towards the current player (The Foe Advances).
If a player draws a Chaos card during the Draw phase,
they must resolve the Card’s Actions and then banish the
card, before continuing with the Encounter phase.
Chaos cards drawn to fill open Encounter Ring slots during
the Recover phase (or when moving into a new level) are
immediately resolved and banished as above, but then
replaced until all Encounter Ring slots are filled and no
Chaos cards are drawn.
Loot Cards
Vorpal Value
Card Title
Card Type
Card Action
Story
Equip Slots
Card Title
Card Action
Story
Loot cards are kept in a separate deck on the Foe mat,
and are generally obtained as a reward after defeating Adversaries or Foes. They are designated on their
front face by a Treasure Chest icon instead of a Battle
Matrix.
Loot cards have a Vorpal value instead of a specific
Power Value, which may be used as any power type
(Fight, Skill, or Charm) when they are spent by the
Hero. Loot cards may also occasionally be equipped in
more than one type of Equipment Slot on the Hero’s
Battlemat, as shown by their Equip Slots on the
bottom of the card.
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anatomy of cards
Attack Cards
Attack Cards are available on the Encounter Ring., and
represent the special combat techniques a Hero will
learn as the adventure. They are collected by playing
cards from your Battle Deck equal to their Battle
Matrix Value. Once the card is collected into a Player’s
Battle Deck, the card’s Battle Matrix value is ignored,
and instead the Power Value and Card Action are
utilized when the card is played from the Player’s hand.
Note that Attack Cards have no equip slots, and so may
not be slotted into a Player’s Battlemat.
Power Value
Card Title
Card Type
Card Action
Battle Matrix
Story
Equip Slots (none)
Tower Cards are specialty cards and kept in a separate deck
on the Foe Mat. They are designated by a Tower icon on the
front and back face, and are never collected into the Player’s
Battle Deck.
A Tower card is placed on the first space of the Encounter
Ring segment as each level is revealed, and they affect the
level and any Heroes present in different ways. Note that
they only affect the level on which they are placed, and if a
Hero moves off the level they are no longer impacted by the
previous level’s Tower card.
Dungeon Cards
Power Value
Card Title
Card Type
Card Action
Battle Matrix
Story
Card Slots
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Tower Cards
Card Title
Card Type
Card Action
Story
Dungeon Cards are available on the Encounter Ring, and
represent special rooms the Hero has cleared out as a
temporary encampment or resting area. They are
collected by playing cards from your Battle Deck equal
to their Battle Matrix Value. Once the card is collected
into a Player’s Battle Deck the card’s Battle Matrix
value is ignored, and instead the Power Value and Card
Action are utilized when the card is played from the
Player’s hand.
When slotted into a Hero’s Battlemat, Dungeon cards
may be played for their Power Value once each turn
without being discarded. Instead they are turned over if
used for their Power Value, and may be re-slotted into
the Battlemat during the Recover phase.
anatomy of cards
Adventurer Cards
Power Value
Card Title
Card Type
Card Action
Battle Matrix
Story
Equip Slots (all)
Adversary Cards appear on the Encounter Ring,
and are designated by a skull icon. They are
collected by playing cards from your Battle Deck
equal to their Battle Matrix Value. Once defeated,
immediately follow instructions on card. Often
this will require a die roll or the collection of a
Loot card. Adversary Cards are never placed into a
Player’s discard pile or Battle Deck.
If an Adversary is to be reshuffled, it is always
resuffled into the top third (approximate) of the
Encounter Deck.
Every Adversary remaining on the current Encounter Ring at the beginning of a Player’s Recover
Phase decreases the Hero’s Sanity by 1.
Adventurer Cards are available on the Encounter
Ring, and represent hirelings or villagers lost
within the Tower who may be recruited by the Hero.
They are collected by playing cards from your Battle
Deck equal to their Battle Matrix Value. Once the
card is collected into a Player’s Battle Deck the
card’s Battle Matrix value is ignored, and instead
the Power Value and Card Action are utilized when
the card is played from the Player’s hand.
Adventurer cards Equip slots are wild, so they may
be slotted anywhere in the Hero’s Battlemat,
making them very versatile cards.
Adversary Cards
Card Title
Card Type
Card Action
Battle Matrix
Story
Loot
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card types
ADVENTURER - Adventurers also trapped in Ravingspire can become your allies. Adventurer
cards may give many different bonuses, but what makes them truly valuable is that they may be
slotted in any item slot on the Battlemat (Weapon, Armor, Object, Relic, or Dungeon), making
them very versatile cards.
ADVERSARIES – Adversary cards have a Skull icon in the upper right corner and represent the
wandering monsters within Ravingspire. They can drain the Sanity of the Heroes if they are not
confronted. Heroes lose Sanity for each Adversary not defeated on their turn. When Adversary
cards are defeated they are not acquired. Instead, the Hero immediately resolves the card. The text
will also list whether the Adversary card is Banished or reshuffled into the top half of the
Encounter Deck.
ARMOR - Armor cards represent protective, wearable equipment, and may grant protective effects
in battle. Armor are designated by a shield on the bottom of the card.
ATTACK – Attack cards represent advanced combat abilities of a Hero. They may not be slotted
on the Battlemat.
CHAOS – Chaos cards have two effects. The first effect is “The Foe Advances!” The second effect
of the Chaos cards are often detrimental to the players, but Chaos may also assist Heroes from
time to time. Once a Chaos card’s actions are fulfilled, the card is immediately Banished. Chaos
cards are designated by a flaming pentagram.
DUNGEON - Dungeon cards represent a particular dungeon room in the tower that the character
has cleared of enemies and has made into a temporary encampment or home base. Dungeon cards
may add persistent bonuses. Dungeon cards are not discarded from the Battlemat after being
used. Instead they are flipped over to show they have been used, and then turned face up at the
beginning of the player’s next turn. Dungeon cards may still be discarded to utilize any special
ability of the card, or replaced with a different Dungeon card by the player. Dungeon cards are
designated by a portcullis on the bottom of the card.
EQUIPMENT - Equipment card types include Weapon, Armor, Object, Relic, and Dungeon
cards. The type of equipment card is listed at the top of the card, and designated by a specific
symbol highlighted at the bottom of the card. Some cards may count as more than one Equipment
Type, as listed on the card.
LOOT – Loot cards represent treasures that were lost in the Tower of Ravingspire. Loot cards all
give Vorpal bonuses rather than individual Fight, Skill, or Charm bonuses. When they are
acquired, they are placed directly into the player’s discard pile as with Encounter cards. Loot cards
may be slotted on the Battlemat the same as Encounter cards.
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card types
OBJECT - Object cards represent all manner of equipment and tools an adventurer may find in a
dungeon. They are designated by a torch on the bottom of the card.
RELIC - Relic cards represent unique magic items. They are designated by a star on the bottom of
the card.
SPIRE - Upon entering the Tower Keep, the player takes a random sealed Spire card, opens it, and
reads it aloud. They then must encounter the Final Dungeon as outlined on the card. If they
defeat the Spire card, the hero is able to escape the Tower of Ravingspire and win the game!
In a single-player game, if the player is unable to defeat the Spire card, then they immediately go
Mad, lower the Madness track by 1, and return to the entrance of the Tower as normal when
suffering from Madness. If the Madness track is not yet reached zero, then the player has the
opportunity to face the Spire card again if they can reach the top before going completely insane.
However any stats rolled for a Spire encounter must be re-rolled when battling the Spire card
again.
In a multi-player game, if a player is unable to defeat the Spire card, then that hero is imprisoned
by the mind-crushing power of Ravingspire and is effectively removed from the game. If they
choose, they may leave a single card from their hand or Battlemat face up on the Spire card for the
next hero to utilize in their Spire Card battle. Any stats rolled for a Spire encounter must be
re-rolled when battling the Spire card again. The first player to defeat the Spire card wins the
game. They may free other players trapped in the Tower or claim victory for only themselves.
Spire cards have an area where a successful player may sign and date the Spire card to record their
victory or loss in the annals of history, if the game owner consents.
STARTING CARDS - Each player starts with a basic Battle Deck with Starting Cards appropriate
for their Hero’s character class. The Starting Cards are listed on each Hero’s character card.
TOWER – Tower cards represent strange lasting effects traveling through alternate dimensions can
have on a particular Tower level of Ravingspire. The Tower cards remain in play for the duration
of the game unless a specific card effect instructs otherwise.
WEAPON - Weapon cards represent equipment used to attack foes. They are designated by a
crossed sword and battle axe on the bottom of the card.
25
glossary
BANISH - When a card is Banished it is placed face up next to the Encounter Deck. For all intents and purposes it is removed
from the game, however in rare cases creatures and cards may be summoned back from Banishment.
BATTLE DECK - During the game, the players will draw from this deck to summon the resources they need to defeat enemies
and explore the Tower. The Battle Deck is stored on the player’s Battlemat, and will grow in size each turn as they explore the
tower. If a player cannot draw a full Hand of cards at the end of their turn (because all their cards are in the Discard Pile) they
draw as many cards as as they can from their existing Battle Deck and then reshuffle their Discard Pile into a fresh Battle Deck,
and continue drawing up to a full Hand.
BATTLEMAT – Each Hero character has a unique Battlemat. The Battlemat is where the Battle Deck, Discard Pile, and specific
Equipment Slots are kept for a particular player class. The Battlemat is also where the character’s current Sanity is tracked.
BATTLE MATRIX – A card’s Battle Matrix is the triangular series of circles surrounded by the vines of Yggdrasil on the lower
half of an Encounter card, and list the Fight, Skill, Charm, and Brute Force cost required to obtain or defeat that card.
BOARD (TOWER BOARD) - The Tower Board consists of three rings on a multi-level base that designate the three levels of the
Tower. To move between levels, the stairway from the lower level must align with the open doorway portal of the higher level.
Upon the start of the game, each portal and its associated stairway between levels must all be separated by four spaces.
BRUTE FORCE - Rather than pay the cost of Fight, Skill, and Charm listed on an Encounter Card to collect it, a hero may
choose to win the day by Brute Force. When attacking in this way, the hero may pool the power value of multiple cards and pay
the Brute Force cost for an Encounter Card, which is listed in red in the center triangle of an encounter card’s Battle Matrix.
DISCARD PILE - The space next to a Character’s Battle Deck on the Battlemat where spent cards from the player’s Hand and
newly acquired cards are placed. It is designated by a curved arrow symbol on the Battlemat.
ENCOUNTER - When a character decides to collect an Encounter Card from their tower level, they must spend Battle Cards
from their Hand (and/or Battlemat) equivalent to the Fight, Skill, or Charm characteristics listed in the Battle Matrix in the
middle of the encountered card.
ENCOUNTER CARD - An Encounter Card is a card on the Level’s Encounter Ring or in the Encounter Deck. There are nine
[9] different types: Weapon, Armor, Object, Relic, Dungeon, Adventurer, Attack, Adversary and Chaos.
ENCOUNTER RING - The three Encounter Ring segments are placed around the rotating tower board and represent the
Dungeon Level (outer ring), the Temple Level (middle ring), and Spire Level (inner ring) of the Tower map. Each Encounter
Ring segment has six [6] spaces on it for cards, a Tower Card space (designated by a Tower symbol), and five Encounter Card
spaces (designated by the vines from the tree of life). When a player Encounters a new Tower Level after moving, they draw a
new Tower card and five [5] Encounter cards and place them on that level’s appropriate Encounter Ring segment before
continuing with their turn.
EQUIPMENT SLOT - A player may take a card from their hand that matches the type of Equipment card listed on the Battlemat and save it in the slot for use in later turns. Once that card is used from the slot to defeat an enemy or gather a resource,
that card is placed into the player’s discard pile, just as if they’d spent it from their hand.
EXPLORE - During a player’s Explore phase, their hero may rotate their current level by spending 2 Skill or Charm to find
hidden levers and decipher mysterious glyphs, in order roll the die and rotate their current level the rolled number of spaces to
align their level’s staircase with the next level’s doorway. They may do this once per type of power (once using 2 Skill and once
using 2 Charm). They may also choose to Brute Force the rotation of the level, by spending a combination of 10 of any power
suits (Fight, Skill, and Charm) to roll the die and rotate the level UP TO that many spaces. Therefore when using Brute Force to
rotate the level, they do not need to rotate the level the full amount shown on the die.
FOE - Foes represent formidable villains or ex-heroes who have gone mad in the Tower of Ravingspire. Foes hunting the Heroes
on each level is limited to one per level. If a Foe is present on the player’s tower level then at the end of the player’s turn the Foe
will move toward that player’s character. The Foe’s speed is based on the number of players present: 1-3 players = 1d3 spaces, 4+
players = 1 space. The Foes do not change levels. If a player moves into a Foe they must stop their movement that turn and face
the Foe in a Showdown. Similarly if a player starts their turn with a Foe token on their space they immediately must engage the
Foe in a Showdown.
FOE MAT - The Foe Mat contains all the powers and mysteries of the Tower of Ravingspire. This is where the players will draw
cards to Encounter, draw Foes to face, discover what version of the Tower level they are on with the Tower Cards, and find the
Loot left by vanquished opponents. This is also where the tower’s Madness Track lies.
GENERATE - When a slotted Relic card generates power for a Runelord, it is turned face down in the slot and is considered
locked in place for the remainder of the Encounter phase. It is then refreshed (turned face up) during the Recover phase.
26
glossary
HAND - At the end of each turn a character will draw cards from their Battle Deck for use the following turn. Normally a
character’s Hand will consist of six [6] cards.
KEY (TOWER KEY) - The Tower Key is needed by a Hero to enter the Tower Keep at the top of the Spire and to escape the
Tower. A Hero must defeat at least one Foe to obtain one. Once a Tower Key is obtained, the player takes one of the Key tokens
and places it on their character card, to show they are ready to enter the Tower Keep.
MADNESS - If a player ever reaches 0 Sanity for any reason (designated by the Skull icon on their Battlemat), then that
character suffers from Madness. First they must discard all their Slotted Cards and cards in their Hand, and move their player
piece back to the front entrance of the Tower of Ravingspire, on the Outer Dungeon ring. They then must decrease the Madness
Track on the Foe Mat by 1, and end their turn. They will start their next turn back up to 10 Sanity and a new hand of Cards.
Note that if the Foe Mat Madness Track ever reaches 0, the tower has collected enough soul energy to imprison the Heroes
forever, and the game is over for all players.
MADNESS TRACK – On the Foe Mat is a red sanity track representing the Madness Track. It starts at 2 + the number of
players in the game (e.g. for two players, it would start at 4). Every time a player goes mad, the Madness counter is reduced by
1. If the Madness counter ever reaches 0 (the Skull icon), the Tower has collected enough soul energy to jump dimensions, and
all heroes inside the tower are forever lost in time and space. If this happens, all players lose the game.
RESHUFFLE - When instructed to Reshuffle a card, the player removes the top half of the encounter deck (approximate) and
reshuffles the card into it. They then place the reshuffled deck back on top of the main Encounter deck.
SANITY- Each character starts with a Sanity value of 10 on their Sanity Track, which is located on the Battlemat. Losing Foe
battles, Chaos cards, and various other card effects all can lower the character’s Sanity. Once the character reaches 0 Sanity
(represented by a skull icon), they may not complete their turn, and must immediately suffer from the effects of Madness.
SANITY TRACK - The Hero’s sanity level is shown in yellow on their Battlemat.
SHOWDOWN - A showdown is a duel between the Hero and one of the Foes who are hunting them within the Tower of
Ravingspire. At the beginning of a Showdown the player draws the top card of the Foe deck and places it in front of them. They
must then battle that Foe with the cards in their Hand and on their Battle Mat. If the player defeats the Foe then they receive
the treasure listed on the Foe card. If the player is unable to defeat the Foe, then their turn ends and they immediately lose 2d6
Sanity. If the Hero did not go mad (either because they lost but still have Sanity left or won the fight outright), they may
immediately roll the die and take a free move. As long as they didn’t go Mad, the player may then continue with the Explore
phase as normal to rotate the level if they choose (but may not Encounter or buy cards from the level that turn). Whether the
Hero wins or loses the combat the Foe token is removed from the board.
SLOTTED CARD - A card that is placed in one of the Equipment Slots on a Hero’s Battlemat.
THE FOE ADVANCES! - When “The Foe Advances!” takes effect (usually as a result of a Chaos card being drawn), then the
following occurs: If the level of the Tower the player who drew the Chaos card is on currently does not have a Foe, then a Foe
spawns on the staircase space (or Tower Door space on the inner Spire ring) of that level. If a Foe is already present on that level
when the Chaos card is drawn, then it moves 1 space toward the player who drew the Chaos card.
TOWER KEEP - The Tower Keep lies at the center of the Tower map and is only accessible from the locked Tower Door shown
in the center ring. A Character must have at least one Tower Key to enter the Tower Keep and face the Final Spire Card. If the
player desires to enter the Tower Keep they do not need to land on the Tower Door space exactly, but only need to move onto or
through it during their turn.
VORPAL - Vorpal values on cards are denoted by large yellow numerical values in the upper right corner of the card that have
no (Fight), (Skill), or (Charm) symbol. When a card with a Vorpal value is played, the player names what type of stat
that bonus will function as for that play. For example, a 3 Vorpal value card may count as a 3 Fight, 3 Skill, or 3 Charm value
card. It can only count as one type however, and the value cannot be split (e.g. 3 Vorpal could not be used as 2 Fight and 1
Charm). In the rare case where a card with a Vorpal value is used against the hero (i.e. used to benefit a Foe during a showdown
and add to their attribute values), the attacked player whose turn it is may still choose which attribute it represents. In essence,
Vorpal always favors the player.
WELL OF SOULS - The Well of Souls is on the Foe Mat and may be used during the Explore phase of a player’s turn to Banish
unwanted cards from their Hand or Discard Pile. A player may spend the Power cost listed on the Well of Souls space (1 Fight,
1 Skill, 1 Charm), or its Brute Force value (5 of any suit), to activate the Well. When activated, the player may then banish one
card from their hand or discard pile from the game. They may do this multiple times during their turn as long as they can pay
the cost each time a card is banished in this way.
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card set expansions
From the Goblin realms through the Old West to the Steam-Powered Victorian age, the cardpack
expansion sets give glimpses into the other worlds from which the Tower of Ravingspire can
draw its victims!
Preview of the Goblin Queen Expansion Set
Cardpack expansion sets add a new Hero, a new Foe, and a unique set of themed artifacts and adversaries
to the Encounter, Tower, and Loot decks. Not only that, they also come with their own sealed Spire Card to
face as the final challenge when playing with these sets.
expansion game setup
1. Take the new Loot, Tower, and Foe cards from the Expansion set and shuffle them into their
respective game decks. Place the sealed Spire card near the board to face at the final battle.
2. When using an Expansion Hero, a Player may either use the blank battlemat or choose the base
game Hero's battlemat that matches the slottable equipment listed on the Expansion Hero's
character card.
3. The remaining Expansion Encounter cards from the card pack should then be shuffled into the
top third of the Encounter Deck (similar to Reshuffling Adversaries) before the start of the game.
4. The Expansion Hero may be represented by a Hero token or a favorite miniature.
tutorial videos
Please come visit us on vorpalchainswordgames.com for tutorial how-to-play videos as well as more
information about Ravingspire and our upcoming card pack expansions!
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Created by: Joshua Carlson & Cory Scanlan
Artwork by: Cullen Bright
Special Thanks
Steve Cibarich, Chad Delp, Paul Gorecki, Chris Gruhl, Craig Harmes,
Nick Hefty, Michael Horton, Hans House, Tim Kuipers,
Ken Leonhardt, Beth Tucker Long, Chris Long, Andrew McKenzie,
Conan Scanlan, Mary Scanlan, Elizabeth Smalley, Jillian Smalley
© Vorpal Chainsword Games 2016. All Rights Reserved